St. Patty's Day - in Turkey, Germany and Brazil

I must confess, I did not even remember what day it was yesterday.

Going through security in Germany was a surprise. I assumed once you go through it in one country, and stay in the secure zones of the airport, you are cleared. Not so. Long wait for this in Germany. I did not have enough time to shop for a Hummel book, beer stein or any other German goodies.

The flight from Turkey to Germany was good, I had a window seat and was able to see the snow-capped mountains of Austria, peeking above the clouds. Similarly, I was also able to view them flying over Switzerland en route to Brazil. My seat was comfortable and the three meals were good. The first was more of a dinner, then a sandwich, then chicken and rice. The Lufthansa flight attendants kept coming by with glasses filled with water and juices, unlike the British Airways flight, when I was given a bottle of water to nurse.

I watched the follwing, and offer my opinions:

• Rocky Balboa - Probably one of the top 7 Rocky movies of all time, at least in the top 10!
• Dream Girls - I was very dissapointed in the music. Rather than re reating the harmony of the Supremes, they musical was more typical of the last 10 years, with a lot of screaming, self absorbed wandering notes. I have seen great movies of the Temptations, Buddy Holly etc. that were much truer to history. Maybe that was not the objective of this movie. Still I had nothing better to do.
• The Queen - I was hoping for some scenes from Windsor Castle, since I was there a week ago (can you believe it?) but it was fun to see.

As predicted, I finished Angels and Demons. I think it was Dan Brown's best book and I recommend it.

A long line to go through passport clearing last night in Brazil, but I still had to wait for 20 more minutes for my bags. A total of an hour waiting and processing in Sao Paulo. It had rained yesterday afternoon, so it was very humid.

A driver was there waiting for me, and we drove for 45 minutes to get to the hotel. There was no freeway, as we have in the US. Mostly 4 lane city streets with stoplights. When I got here the Lufthansa flight attendants were just checking in. They said the prefer staying here, because it is a good hotel. (Pictures above.) I arrived at the hotel at about 9:15 PM, which was 2:15 AM Istanbul time.

I got to talk with Lynn and she is doing well. Keeping tabs on this blog, of which I am very glad. I have received emails from may of you that you are enjoying this site, so I'll keep publishing.

Anyway, a belated Happy Clover Day to you all!